Silent Life
by Akari Sennyami
Summary: (one-shot) R+R please! Sesshoumaru encounters the Inuyasha gang having fun and has his own thoughts about it...


Disclaimer: 'Inuyasha' and its characters are in no way, shape or smell my property.

Author's note: Another Inuyasha one-shot from Akari!  How did that happen?  *puzzled* They just keep turning up, it seems…  *shrug*  Anyway, this one's really short compared to the others, so at least it won't take long to read!  The story kinda came as I typed- it was pretty improvisational, though based on a long-standing idea about Sesshoumaru that I've had.

  Well, enjoy!

 **Silent Life**

  It was too quiet that night.

  Sakura petals drifted past, skimming lightly over the silk of a lone demon's robes as he took one step after another over the grass, lush and dark in the tentative moonlight.

  This night reminded him of the night his mother died.  It had been peaceful, like this: quiet and full of soft shadows, gentle moonlight, and so many stars in the sky.

  There used to be more stars in those days, it seemed.

  The demon's train of thought broke off as he heard something, a low sound in the silent night.  It had come and gone in a moment.

  He waited.

  His ears picked up the sound again, louder that time.

  It was laughter.

  He stole silently nearer to the sound, and a familiar scent assailed his nose, which almost wrinkled reflexively in disgust.  His half-brother was nearby.  He could smell his repulsive half-human scent.

  As Sesshoumaru walked further beneath the trees, his nose registered other things: the other humans his half-brother associated with, and the little fox runt; the sizzling fat of cooking meat; the smoke of the fire that crackled merrily in the quiet darkness; the permeating, overriding scent of relaxed happiness, shared by a group after a day of travelling.

  All this was processed by Sesshoumaru's mind in less than a second as he approached closer still.  He could see the light of the fire now, flickering between the trees ahead, sending dark shadows dancing over his silent form.  

  A sakura petal twirled by, silhouetted by the firelight.

  Sesshoumaru watched it weave its way through the cool air to land on the ground at his feet.

  Voices rang out of the clearing where the fire burned brightly.

  "Popcorn?"

  "I thought we could have it afterwards.  It's corn that goes kind of fluffy when it gets hot."

  Two girls' voices discussing something Sesshoumaru neither knew of nor cared to know of.

  A sudden burst of tiny explosions gave rise to a small shriek and a couple of male cries.  Sesshoumaru heard his half-brother drew his sword and growl at the fire.  A girl's voice spoke quickly.

  "That's just the popcorn popping, Inuyasha!  Don't attack it!"

  Inuyasha growled again.  "Don't talk down to me, wench!  You should have said it'd make that big noise!"

  "I didn't know it would go off so quickly!"

  Sesshoumaru stepped closer, near enough to see his half-brother's face, screwed up in annoyance and defiance, his sword pointed at the fire and the bag of something that was still popping in erratic bursts.

  He saw the girl who had spoken stood ready to tug Inuyasha away from the fire, when the bag suddenly exploded with hundreds of those popping sounds and small pale pieces of something fluffy started flying in all directions.

  Another dark-haired girl in a kimono tried to bat them away with her hands, a man dressed as a priest merely endeavoured to dodge them and a small fox demon jumped about trying to catch them in his mouth while yelping, "Hot, hot, hot!"  Inuyasha, however, tried to claw them out of the air and all the while the girl who had spoken wailed, "They're going everywhere!  No, you're supposed to _eat_ them, Inuyasha!"

  The scene soon descended into a laughing fit as they all took in each other's reactions to their tiny corn attackers.

  Sesshoumaru watched, his eyes lingering on each face, full of laughter, warm with the light of the orange-gold fire, which lit their faces and made their eyes sparkle with flickering yellow light.

  The firelight created a circle of warmth and safety for these people; it made their world a colourful, happy thing, separate from the cool darkness that held Sesshoumaru, stood shrouded in secrecy.

  His cold eyes dwelt on the companionship that burned strongly in the air before him, on the trust and affection of the scene he had been a silent witness to.

  His face remained passive, lit only by the cold moon as he withdrew, turning away from the group nearby, turning his back on the bright golden firelight.  He stepped silently along his path, back into the shadowy night, a lone and pale figure, tall, graceful and isolated on the dark landscape.

  He moved back into the world of the cold, quiet night.

Author's note: Very short, I know, but I didn't see the point in waffling on when the point had clearly been made, you know?  By the way, this is based on the premise that Sesshoumaru has gone off for a walk on his own, and left Rin with Jaken.  

  This wasn't meant to be OOC- rather, I wanted it to be my own perspective on one possible aspect of Sesshoumaru's personality.  Okay?  No flames, please!

  Please leave a review, muchly appreciated!


End file.
